Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 6, 1978)
Willard believes affirmative action has progressed By MARY BETH ALLEN Of the Emerald Myra Willard, Affirmative Action director, has seen progress in the elimination of discriminatory hiring practices on the Univer sity campus, and she says, “I wori< hard to keep it from slipping." “We're working hard but I don’t think affirmative action has produced utopia yet,” Willard says. At the same time, Willard’s office has been responsible for making it difficult for on-campus agencies to get away with discriminatory hiring practices. "Our program involves ensuring that discrimination doesn’t take place,” says Willard. Prejudice against potential employees due to race, sex, religion, national origin, handicap, age, or mari tal or veteran status is what her office battles. A grievance counselor is also under the wing of the office. The counselor is mainly “for students who feel they have been discriminated against or have observed discrimination against others” in the educational process, says Willard. Willard has held her position for six years. Affirmative Action procedures are required by both state and federal laws and regulations. The Title IX Task Force is under the jurisdiction of the office, and is responsible for making sure the University is comply ing with all the guidelines of the act. A recent study of University academic disciplines attempted to “examine areas in which students of one sex were under represented,” said Willard. Academic majors in which enrollment of either sex totaled more than 60 percent were asked to em phasize to students that there are equal opportunities for both sexes in the major, and encourage the underrepresented sex to pursue a career in that particular major. Business, pre-law, ar chitecture, and the sciences were areas with predominantly male enrollments, while teacher education and dance are comprised of mainly women. Willard feels that while women and minorities have reached a fairly high degree of equality in campus jobs and in the educa tional process at the University, the situation in the outside world is very different. “People in the Northwest still seem surprised that a minority person has a bachelor’s degree or a major in busi ness,” she remarked. In the past decade, more women and minority students have been admitted to law and medical graduate schools not because of preferential treatment, but because of the growing number of applicants, according to Willard. The number admitted is “roughly in proportion to the number of applicants," she said. This year the University law school has a 30 percent female enrollment, and an 8 percent minority enrollment. Aside from her duties in Oregon Hall, Willard teaches a class in the business school called “Problems in Affirmative Action.” She says that “in personnel management it has gotten to be a pretty important thing" to now be in tune with affirmative prac tices. As to any extra points women and minorities have in the job game, “it may be somewhat of an advantage (to be female or a member of a minority) but those situations are isolated,” says Willard. DIC staffer in EMU Friday To make things easier for students eligible to fill out a Drug Informa tion Survey Center (DIC) survey, staff member Jerry Beck will be in the EMU lobby from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday. Beck says only 50 of the 400 students invited by letters to fill out the survey have applied, and that Friday, April 14 is the last day students can present their letters, fill out the survey and collect the $2 offered by the DIC. GET A SIMM El JOB lilBTII ■ VT fl B BB mm FUTURE. CALL: 686-3102 ARMY RUTC. THE TWO YEAR PROCRAM. ESCAPE: plenty of spots By CAROLYN BEAVER Of the Emerald Once again, ESCAPE, an ASUO program that allows students to work for credit in a school or com munity agency, has plenty of placements and not enough people to fill them. “This term we have a big range of placement opportunities, a lot of community needs, especially. I bet we haven’t filled 20 percent of the requests we have,” says ESCAPE Director Susannah Malarkey. Malarkey lists a slew of placements available for persons who want to be arts and crafts program aides at community schools or to work with kids at all school levels in special areas like math, English and social studies. People in “all different age groups, from little kids up to adults” in special education programs need assistance as well as seniors in the Friendship with the Elderly program, says Malarkey. If a potential ESCAPE volunteer has a transpor tation problem, there are several placements close to campus, Malarkey says. The High School Equivalency Program on cam pus needs Spanish-speaking volunteers to help per sons in the program. Condon Elementary School, on Agate Street, is looking for people to help foreign language-speaking kids with their English. The Child Care and Development Center also needs volun teers. As for community openings, several day care centers around town need people, as does Women’s Space, a shelter home for battered wives. Volunteers are needed for “everything from child care to pro* gram development,’’ Malarkey says. The Bethel Project gives students 'a chance to work with junior high school kids in a special activities program, says Malarkey. From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday, ESCAPE needs volunteers who “have a knowledge of or interest in running/jogging, stained glass, kite and rocket con struction, disco dancing and bike repair and safety,” Malarkey says. Although sign-ups will be taken at the ESCAPE table in the EMU Main Lobby until April 21, Malarkey stresses that “the sooner you sign up, the better experience it is.” ESCAPE volunteers receive one credit for three hours of work per week. A first-term volunteer is also required to participate in a seminar led by an ES CAPE student coordinator that meets once a week for two hours. The coordinator acts as a resource person for the volunteers, says Malarkey. One of the largest ASUO programs, ESCAPE gets about $15,000 yearly and places approximately 500 volunteers each term, although “we have placements for 2,000 students” says the director. Malarkey asks that anyone with a desire to help other people come look at ESCAPE’S offerings. Close Encounters . of the Fourth Kind. DEL TACO IS HERE! 30 Country Club Rd. behind the Turkey Inn Open 8:30 am to 11 pm
